Our Projects

Our buildings are the legacy we leave for our customers, their communities and future generations.

We work with our customers to deliver buildings that conserve natural resources and perform efficiently by design to minimise carbon emissions and the cost of ownership.

Through collaboration with our customers, we cut carbon emissions from every stage of their projects, from construction to operation. From net zero to Passivhaus, our in-house experts collaborate with customers and supply chain partners to drive down operational carbon, optimise building performance, address whole life carbon and optimise user health and wellbeing.

In 2024, demand for sustainable buildings continued to grow with our pipeline of net zero carbon in operation and Passivhaus projects growing by 450% since 2020.

Passivhaus

The Passivhaus standard is increasingly in demand from customers seeking the highest standards of building performance. The Passivhaus approach reduces the energy demands of a building to a minimum achieved through exceptional levels of insulation and airtightness. This requires the highest standards of sustainable construction and is ideal for compliance with the Net Zero Carbon Building Standard.

Passivhaus buildings are not in themselves net zero in operation, but adding renewables to a project will provide the minimal energy required for heating, lighting and ventilation.

Willmott Dixon is the UK’s leading Passivhaus contractor. At the end of 2024, we had delivered a 29% share of the non-domestic passivhaus market in England and Wales. We have nine high-profile Passivhaus projects in our portfolio, either completed or in construction.

In 2024, we completed the Eclipse Leisure Centre in Staines-upon-Thames (below), which following Passivhaus certification in 2025 will be the world’s largest wet/dry Passivhaus leisure centre.

On a smaller footprint, the Sarah Turvill Multifaith Centre (below), a Passivhaus project for the University of Exeter, was completed in 2024, with airtightness testing showing the building reaches the performance levels required for Passivhaus certification. The building also uses Porotherm clay blocks, which are made from 30% recycled materials and have an expected lifespan of 150 years; even after which the blocks can be recycled.

At the University of Oxford, we completed and handed over two modern, ultra-energy efficient buildings, providing 54 bedrooms for students at St Peter’s College (below). These two, four-storey buildings meet the Passivhaus Institute’s Low Energy Building (LEB) Standard, which has slightly more relaxed criteria enabling greater flexibility in design.

Other Passivhaus projects that we have delivered include:

Passivhaus Service

In 2024, we created an in-house Passivhaus Service, involving our building performance specialists, eight Passivhaus-certified designers and digital construction specialists, Collida.

Our in-house service bridges this gap, combining Passivhaus expertise with company-specific knowledge to ensure compliance and practical, viable solutions for our customers projects.

As a founder member of the UK's Passivhaus Trust, we capture and share project learnings and industry best practice. Our people are involved in the Passivhaus Trust Technical Panel and Educational Steering Group.

Net Zero Carbon in Operation

The Passivhaus standard provides an exemplary platform to create a net zero carbon building, but does not set requirements for low carbon energy sources, which are integral to achieve net zero operational carbon (NZOC).

Many customers chose not to pursue the Passivhaus approach instead targeting low-carbon, highly efficient buildings and net zero carbon in operation approaches. These projects may not follow the exacting standards of insulation and airtightness required for Passivhaus accreditation, but incorporate design features to reduce energy consumption, such as enhanced insulation and glazing, and integrate renewable energy generation through photovoltaic solar panels.

We offer all customers NZOC design options to enhance their project as part of our Now or Never ambition to deliver all new buildings and major refurbishments as net zero by 2030. In 2024, 51% of our projects onsite included options to achieve net zero carbon in operation.

Our Student Village at University of Staffordshire’s main Stoke-on-Trent campus (below) project is set for completion in 2026 and showcases a fabric first approach to sustainability. This includes high levels of insulation, use of materials to enhance thermal efficiency and maximising air tightness. Using smart, efficient mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems the building will have reduced demand on heating and cooling, with roof-mounted photovoltaic panels to generate renewable electricity on site.

Net Zero Carbon Building Standard

To keep the UK on track for net-zero by 2050, the new Net Zero Carbon Building Standard (NZCBS) aims to reduce carbon emissions by 78% by 2035.

Launched as a pilot in 2024, the Standard is the first cross-industry initiative that aligns to a 1.5°C climate trajectory and science-based targets to reduce carbon emissions.

Since 2022, two members of Willmott Dixon’s sustainability team have been involved in shaping the technical document that sets out the Standard’s operational carbon and embodied carbon limits and targets.

Read their blogs about the NZCBS here:

Willmott Dixon’s role as one of the country’s leading contractors for building new or refurbishing existing building environments to become net zero in operation. In January 2024, we won the tender to redevelop Speedwell House in Oxford (pictured below), transforming the 5,200m² space into a modern, net zero in operation headquarters for Oxfordshire County Council.

The project has been selected as a draft pilot for the UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard. Three more projects - Glyn-coch Primary School, Lobslack Nursery and Willow Tree Primary School – have also been selected as official pilot projects.

Net zero schools

To date, over 300 local authorities have declared a climate emergency, and almost two-thirds of councils in England have targeted carbon neutral by 2030, some 20 years before the national Government target to meet net zero carbon by 2050.

Since the Department for Education’s (DfE) 2021 stipulation for all new school buildings to achieve net zero carbon in operation, demand for sustainable schools has contributed significantly to our workload. We have an extensive portfolio of sustainable schools, following the success of Tarleton Academy, one of the DfE's flagship pilot projects completed by Willmott Dixon and the first academy in the UK to be net zero carbon in operation.

The DfE framework requires buildings are future proofed for a 4°C temperature rise and adaptable to the risks of climate change, including increased flooding and higher indoor temperatures. Many customers opt for Passivhaus standards of building performance, which are not only optimised for net zero emissions, but ensure excellent air quality and an ideal indoor temperature, improving student health and wellbeing, while reduced CO₂ levels enhance student’s ability to learn.

In 2024, we secured Glyn-coch Primary School in South Wales for Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Set to welcome its first pupils in 2026, Glyn-coch (below) will be among the most sustainable schools in the country, targeting both net zero in operation and Passivhaus certification, as well as WELL, Building with Nature and BREEAM Outstanding.

Hounsome Fields Primary School in Basingstoke for Hampshire County Council will target Passivhaus Classic certification in addition to measures to significantly reduce the building’s carbon footprint in construction and operation.

Hopescourt School in Walton-on-Thames for Surrey County Council is net zero in operation specialist school for 200 autistic pupils aged 4 - 19 years. Due to complete in Spring 2026, the school has been designed with highly specialised teaching and learning spaces, and to help create an environment that meets the children’s individual needs the school is set to deploy our Energy Synergy® process to optimise performance and end user comfort.

The project has reached a major milestone in its construction, with pupils and teachers marking the 'topping out' of the project by signing some of the steel frames that will become part of the school.

Wellington Place Primary School in Market Harborough (below) is the second school in Leicestershire County Council’s roll-out of net-zero carbon in operation schools following the flagship Hollycroft Primary School, which holds an A+ Energy Performance Certificate, BREEAM excellent certification, and provides a template for future sustainable schools in the county.

Net zero homes

Net zero housing is no longer niche. Increasingly, we deliver ultra-low carbon energy efficient homes that reduce our customer's energy bills as well as their carbon footprint.

In 2024, we continued our work with the London Borough of Hounslow to support their commitment to build 1,000 new council homes in the borough. We delivered 96 high-quality, sustainable homes, following similar work on Frank Towell Court to create 102 new homes, and Bristol Court, a retirement living scheme providing 94 new homes. The Tintern, Sonnet, and Hamlet developments in Brentford (pictured below) support the customer’s goal to become zero-carbon by 2030; the homes are 100% electric with an air source heat pump system providing residents with hot water and heating.

In Barking and Dagenham, where extensive redevelopment of the 1960s Gascoigne Estate is well underway for customer, Be First, we have begun work on Block J, which provides 124 new affordable homes, consisting of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Block J follows on from our delivery of Gascoigne Phase 2, another 382 new homes, of which 57% is affordable housing and includes the Passivhaus-certified block, Palomar Court. Once again, sustainability is at the heart of our efforts, with the homes being the first net zero carbon building to be delivered by customer, Be First, supported by the addition of photovoltaic panels on roof spaces.

In the South West we have delivered a £63m residential scheme across two buildings on the former site of the Avon Fire and Rescue headquarters. The largest is the 14-storey Millwrights Place, which will provide 231 private rental apartments, while adjacent to this is Coopers Court, a 10-storey building providing 66 apartments. The projects use low carbon materials and are heated via the city’s district heating network which draws heat from a heat bore in the centre of the city and is the UK’s largest water source heat pump.

Building Performance

Our Energy Synergy® process enables our customers to optimise the performance of their buildings in-use in real-time to ensure a completed building operates to achieve its design expectations and verify building performance.

Live on 14 projects in 2024, Energy Synergy® has led to customers making annual energy and cost savings of between 5-15% on the projects we’ve delivered for them. Of the projects that have at least 12 months of performance data, 60% are recording no performance gap when compared by the targets set by the TM54 model.

We also offer a range of solutions for residential performance monitoring to ensure our customer’s residential buildings also operate as efficiently as possible. Find out more about Energy Synergy® and Residential Monitoring in the Innovations section of the Now or Never review.

Community Solar

Willmott Dixon’s innovative Community Solar Energy funding model offers a capital cost-free investment for the customer, providing a market-competitive, secure, and future-proof supply of zero carbon energy from solar photovoltaic (PV).

Instead of an upfront investment from the customer, funding comes from not-for-profit community energy group and finance partners, who operate and maintain the PV array. As well as the environmental and economic benefits of renewable energy generation, the community solar agreement requires the community energy group to use a small portion of the funds generated to support a range of local community and social value initiatives.

Following establishment of the Bristol Beacon’s community-funded approach to achieve net zero in partnership with the Bristol Energy Cooperative, we saw the second community solar project taking shape to supply net zero carbon Silverwood School in Rowde, North Wiltshire.

The 350-pupil SEND school incorporates a community solar system to generate over 400 MWh/yr of renewable energy which is funded and owned by Wiltshire Wildlife Community Energy. Silverwood's solar panels (below) will not only generate green electricity but also export surplus power to the local grid. Additionally, they are expected to generate c.£5,000 per year to support biodiversity and environmental education initiatives in partnership with the school.

In 2025, we expect to see social enterprise, Green Fox Community Energy, take on the running of an 80kWp solar array at Hollycroft Primary School. Supported by the Community Energy Fund, which is funded by the Midlands Net Zero Hub and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the project is expected to save the school over £140,000 in energy costs over its lifespan.

Decarbonisation

Our Decarbonise Today service provides expert advice on all aspects of decarbonisation and funding. There is an urgent need to improve and upgrade buildings of all kinds across the public and private sector, which has underpinned the need and ambitions of Decarbonise Today.

We support customers with a true end-to-end delivery solution, turning net zero goals into measurable decarbonisation projects. From estate-wide assessments and investment-grade proposals to securing external funding and managing delivery on the ground, we provide customers with a clear decarbonisation pathway, maximising carbon reductions, cost efficiencies, and long-term sustainability.

Find out more about the work of Decarbonise Today in the Innovations section.

Recognition for our Brilliant Buildings

We take great pride in delivering Brilliant Buildings for our customers, and sharing with them the recognition for our successful people, projects and initiatives.

In 2024, our accolades included:

• Gascoigne Neighbourhood won Green Building Project at the UK Green Business Awards 2024..
• TBC.London was named Environmental and Sustainable Initiative of the Year at the BCI Awards 2024.
• North Shields Transport Hub won Low Carbon Project at the Construction News Awards 2024 (below).